Business Commons^™

Effects Of Management And Media Disclosures Of Corporate Tax Evasion On Investor Judgments, Ming Wei Gabriel Chua

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

This study examines investor reactions to disclosures of corporate tax evasion by company management and the media. We were particularly interested in the issue of whether investors value corporate tax compliance from a moral perspective. We conducted an experiment in which we manipulate management disclosure strategies (no disclosure, symbolic disclosure, substantive disclosure) and the presence/absence of media disclosures in a 3 x 2 between-subjects design. Participants provided judgments of a hypothetical company’s short-term and long-term financial prospects and their willingness to maintain their investment in the company.

Media disclosure of tax evasion had a significant effect on all judgments. In …